Allison's rightfully neurotic obsession with her foot in cold and wet weather makes planning and executing rides more of a chore than ever before. I am feeling the pressure too, she turns to me for guidance as if I know what she should and should not do. How the heck am I supposed to know? The best doctors that we can't afford are unable to give us any indication of how to deal with Black Death Foot. These doctors pocket more money per quarter than we make combined in a year. Surely they should know something I don't, but they are useless! We are further confounded by the fact that despite our best efforts we have thus far been unable to locate a pair of Specialized Defroster shoes for Allison. You would think that maybe someone somewhere could help, but so far it seems we are shit outta luck. At least the $200 "hot socks" seem to be doing a sufficient job so far, but I have my doubts about their effectiveness when the rides shift to longer duration. Insulation will become more important in my opinion. Don't come at me with suggestions, we have tried them all from wrapping her foot with space blankets, wool socks, booties, aluminum foil, plastic bags...
It is easy to come up with suggestions and say, "Try this..." The problem with everything is that if the suggestion fails Allison loses 3 months of her life. It is like playing Russian Roulette only the gun is pointed at her foot instead of her head. Think about it, if your foot gets cold it dies and now you have a terrible injury from NOTHING that takes 3 months to heal. Oh by the way, your foot getting cold is only a hypothesis. It has happened twice before and only two things that seem to be common between the two occurrences, riding bikes and cold weather.
Okay enough of that rant. Despite all this we had a decent weekend of training.
Saturday we headed up Indian Truck Trail with the goal of riding Trabuco and Holy Jim. We got up to Main Divide and it was cold. I could hear the cylinder snap shut on the revolver and the hammer pull back, the gun is pointed at Allison's right foot. I pulled the plug. We headed back down Indian Truck Fail and then drove to Vail Lake to finish her specified volume at lower elevation and without extended descents. My left Achilles tendon had started to hurt earlier in the day and at the completion of the three hours it was excruciating. I loaded up on Vitamin I. (Inside joke for Ibuprofen)
Sunday we had learned our lesson and knew we were going to have to keep training on the down low, the lower the better. Reluctantly Allison agreed to spend three hours looping through Daley Ranch. I had a good ride, she struggled I think. Either way it was much better than having to deal with icy cold wind and rain! We got a little wet in the last 10 minutes or so of the ride, but not enough to short out her "hot socks" thankfully!
Sunday night was the Velosport Team Banquet so we drove over to Rancho Santa Margarita. After helping to set up the banquet hall we feasted on pizza and cupcakes. It was nice to see some of our racing buddies that don't show up to 'Cross races! Huge congratulations to Clint and Marco for winning the coveted "Rider of the Year" award. It is nice to see people recognized for their hard work, likable personalities, and good attitudes!
It was nice racing with one of the largest club teams in the USA (approx. 600 members), but I look forward to next year racing on the new Bikes 4 Boobs / Rock N' Road Cyclery team. I think it will be great to sport new colors and to work for something bigger than a "trophy". Helping to detect cancer early for people who can't afford screenings is certainly a worthy cause! I ride with purpose. Save a pair, save a life!
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